38589 Years Difference
by R-Alex-J
Summary: After some online discussions, I've decided to do a 40k/Star Trek crossover where the Starfleet crew spend time in the 41st millennium after being thrown forwards in time. How will they get on with the Imperium? Can they avoid the wrath of the Inquisition, the Ecclesiarchy, or the Mechanicus?
1. Arrival

**_Note: I decided to use single line breaks because they make the text look more like an actual book. If this doesn't work for you, try the line spacing tool._**

 _Captain's log, stardate 8017.4. We are currently en route to Vulcan to pick up Ambassador Sarek for the Babel Conference. Once we have assembled all the delegates, we can proceed. We also have a distinguished passenger, Admiral Talunas, who is returning to Vulcan to work on the findings from the Romulan encounter last year._

"My God, Scotty," McCoy grumbled while he tried his best to clean up sickbay before the place was populated by every species in the Federation. "I never realised how bad this place was."  
"I'd expect more, Doctor. I know my engines inside out and outside in."  
"You would, wouldn't you. You love those coils more than any woman, I think."  
Scotty smiled slightly, while also considering whether he should get a kilt made for the next time he needed a dress uniform. "I wouldn't say that, not yet. No, I just know every nook and cranny, and every dent from the fights in my engine room."  
Humming started to roar all over the sickbay, louder and higher than the warp engines at high speed. "Scotty, would you mind?"  
"There's nothing in the deck plates, I have no clue what..."  
Cracks formed in the walls and the expected sounds pierced the eardrums of both officers. They and the medical staff fell to their knees as they tried to block the sound out. Scotty managed to keep his eyes opened. He was sure that he could see himself, McCoy, and the rest of sickbay moving ahead of the ship, in the state they were before the disaster. The other Scotty and McCoy were continuing to talk, but about what would never be known. "Doctor, we're slowing!"

Across the _Enterprise_ , corridors became inferno-filled deathtraps and calbes burst out from walls & deck plates. Crew ran for their lives as ship walls caved in, including a few external bulkheads. Air blew into space, and most crew in the recreation room only escape by a hair's breadth. Those who could see outside saw that the ship was no longer in the blackness of space but rather a purple vortex. Somewhat late, the red alert lights & klaxon began blaring. Leading the evacuation to the escape pods just in case, Leslie had to push one of the new ensigns aside when a fireball burst from the phaser control room. Even when he was in the face of death, which in his line of work was nearly all the time, his heart rate had never been so high. Where were they?"

"All sections aflame isolated," Spock announced to the bridge crew. "Pumps are now on negative mode."  
The atmospheric condition pumps would suck out the oxygen not yet consumed by the fires, extinguishing them. If there was anyone still inside, which the sensors suggested was not the case, they would suffocate or burn.  
"Sir," Sulu called to Kirk, "I'm reading an overload... Get off the chair!"  
"Chair," Kirk muttered. The captain suddenly realised. "Chair!"  
The captain jumped off his chair but the huge mass still caught him in the blast. CRACK!  
"My spine," he realised. "Spock!"  
"Uhura, get medical assistance to the bridge. Chekov, med kit. Masters, status?"  
"We're dropping to normal space, sir," said the engineering lieutenant. For some reason, she wore a blue uniform. "The board says we're dead. Warp drive off, impulse to one-tenth only, forward phasers gone, life support on decks 10-14 is gone."  
"Lieutenant," Spock asked Uhura, "send a distress call, all frequencies."  
"Sir, I can't, there's no subspace."  
"Confirmed," said Masters. "Mr Spock, all systems relying on subspace can't work. Even if we repaired the warp drive, we'd couldn't move."  
"This also reduces impulse efficiency and takes out transporters," Chekov said. "Actually, I'm reading another layer beneath normal space. Perhaps we could tie into that."  
A grating noise turned the bridge crew's attention to the turbolift, where Nurse Chapel had to push open the door herself. "The lift didn't work, I had to climb the ladder."  
"Very well, nurse," Spock said. "Attend to the captain. Where is Doctor McCoy?"  
"Mr Spock, the whole ship is on fire! It's only because this is the bridge that they let me go at all."  
"Do what you can, Chapel," Spock replied. It was up to him to work out where they where and what had happened. He noticed that the computer readings said that the ship hadn't moved in space but had had in time. The science officer thought about the time when the Vulcan Science Directorate insisted that time travel was not possible, and how they'd now be proven absolutely wrong. Perhaps logic was not all it was. In this case, the computer suggested the Enterprise had gone several thousand years into the future. Further, the sensors said that before the disaster, there was a double reading of the ship & crew, as though a duplicate was still heading at full speed towards Vulcan. Or was the crippled ship the duplicate? Did it matter? "Fascinating."

A Daemon. Of all the things Gabriel Angelos could have unleashed on the Imperium, he had to unleash a Daemon. Tartarus was gone and despite Inquistor Toth's reassurances the Captan of 3rd Company, Blood Ravens still brooded over his actions. Was there no method of war that kept a planet intact?  
"Do you know what the problem is?" he asked Captain Ufrat, the Chapter Serf in command of the ship.  
"Carelessness?" she replied. A normal human, she was far less bulky than a Space Marine, though her tunic had the same colour scheme. In the bright lights of the bridge, this red was as vibrant as it could get.  
"No, those on all sides who love big guns. We are fine, yes, but Throne help the universe if they found even bigger Marines. These, the god-machines, the Knights. I sometimes wonder whether those who enjoy deploying the big guns think about the normal people who must live with the consequences. Do they think of the damage?"  
"Some do," Ufrat said. Her brothers had been adopted by the Adeptus Mechanicus and accepted into the College Titanica. "Some though think that the Navy's reliance on thousands of slaves just to load missiles is awesome, as in good."  
"I can only be relieved that we have autoloaders and we don't have slaves."  
"Captain," said the buzzing voice of a servitor, "I am picking up a weak radio signal. I believe it to be a distress call, sent 4 years ago."  
Details spread out on the screen by Ufrat's chair. "We can reach it, so can the Space Wolf Battle Barge nearby."  
"We will go. I'll have my brothers suit up. Servitor, what can you tell me about the source?"  
"Cogitator files from the Dark Age of Technology identify this a pre-M18 design, from the spacewarp drive era."  
Spacewarp drive was different from the current warp drive. At present, warp drive took a ship through the alternate hellscape dimension known as the warp in order to cut down on the distance travelled. Spacewarp shortened the distance between points but relied on an alternate dimension that no longer existed. This was one of many items kept by the Blood Ravens, but almost no one else. Gabriel considered this. "Transfer the files to my cellae."

Ufrat wondered how it felt for the small ship ahead to see the behemoth that was a Space Marine strike cruiser. The distressed vessel was smaller than even a basic Imperial Navy patrol vessel, but it also looked like nothing the Chapter Serf had seen before. In front of the command chair were two consoles, one used to regulate the ship's systems and the other used to fly it. Behind the chair was a wooden rail that controlled a variety of other systems, including weapons. "Scan it," Ufrat ordered the Serf on duty.  
"Harmless," he told her. "It's crippled, but even if it wasn't it's FTL systems simply couldn't work here."  
"It looks like we travelled back 4 years, since the ship just sent the signal. Can we fit it in a hangar bay?"  
"Easily."  
"Open radio hailing frequencies."

On the _Enterprise_ , a signal beeped from what was left of the communications console, causing everyone to look over in hope. Lieutenant Palmer, Uhura's colleague, had taken over for her, so she was the one who tapped her earpiece and said, "Mr Spock, incoming hail from the approaching ship."  
The first officer stared at the viewscreen before ordering, "Onscreen." The other ship was almost as large as a small moon, like the First Federation ship commanded by Balok. It had a rough design with many projecting points. Why a ship needed so large spikes was another question to answer.  
"Reading all weapons armed," said the relief helm officer, Haines. Once the targeting scope raised, she took a closer look. "Sir, I estimate the ship has firepower equivalent to all 13 Constitution class starships and more!"  
"Confirmed," said Lieutenant Moreau, a science officer who normally spent all her time in the chemistry lab. Captain Kirk had an unusual fondness for her.  
"We are clearly in a dangerous area," Spock said.

On the _Bibliothèque_ , Ufrat leaned back in her throne as the image cleared up on her holo-link. Why shouldn't she relax? She had the power. "Greetings of the Throne, this is the Blood Raven warship _Bibliothèque_. We received your distress call, answer."  
Just before the rendezvous, the Blood Raven Archive with the main fleet had transmitted the schematics for a Constitution Class starship, M3.266. When the colourful chamber with railings, a command throne, and various consoles dotted around the room equipped with unnecessary scopes appeared on screen, Ufrat almost smiled. A tall man with a slightly green complexion and pointed ears wearing a blue shirt said, "This is the USS _Enterprise_. We have suffered severe damage, have many casualties, and do not know our current location."  
"We know that and we also know you are helpless and we could plunder your ship if we felt like it. However, we are honourable warriors, whether mere servant of the transhumans or the transhumans themselves, so we will do our best. We believe we can take you into one of our hangar bays."  
"Our warp core is currently in a poor condition. Should it breach, the explosion would be enormous."  
"We've had worse. If you want our help, do as we say. We are transmitting green lights to the relevant hangar bay. Take the offer or leave it."  
"Thank you, Captain."  
"May I ask another question, abhuman? What are your female officers wearing?"  
"Their uniforms," the man said. He raised an eyebrow at the word 'abhuman'.  
"If that's what you call uniforms... We can discuss this. Are you the commander of your ship?"  
"No, I am Commander Spock. Captain Kirk is injured. We also have an admiral aboard."  
"An admiral. Who is he?"  
"She is Admiral Talunas, a logistical expert and a part-time fashion designer."  
"You and her come aboard my ship once you've docked. Channel off."  
After the holo-link deactivated, the chapter serf on the ops console turned his seat around. He too had slight green skin and pointed ears. "Captain, why did you refer to him as abhuman? We are not abhumans."  
"I apologise," Ufrat sighed. "I was trying to unsettle him."  
Ufrat promptly left the bridge. She planned to throw off her formal robes and find something nice to wear for a change,but not the uniforms of M3.266. Ghastly.


	2. The Garden World

"Spock!" McCoy yelled down the charred corridor as he ran after the first officer. "You cannot just be going over there to that leviathan!"  
"Yet I am doing exactly that, Doctor." Spock was now in his dress uniform, which was similar to his standard blue uniform but with a gold collar and line down the middle. "Doctor, I am not risking you offending our guests. Please return to sickbay."  
"Offend our guests? I'm not offensive, I'm a doctor!"  
"As you constantly demonstrate, Leonard, the two are mutually compatible."  
Stopping by the airlock, the only officer outranking Kirk & Spock flicked her wrist at McCoy, convincing him leaving would be a prudent thing to do. Admiral Talunas also wore her dress uniform, only that it was green and actually a dress. She looked at first glance to be an Andorian, having the blue skin & antenna, but the observer would soon notice her darker hair and her pointed ears.  
Before the admiral had come aboard, Spock had never met her or even heard of her. Now he knew of her, he went over the possible reasons an Andorian & a Vulcan would mate. Andorians needed 4 genders to reproduce anyway, so how had this happened? Dismissing such thoughts, Spock said, "Greetings, Admiral, it is agreeable to see you are well."  
"Hello, Commander, I... Oooh! Hehe!"  
Spock stuck his head around to the airlock window and saw what had made Talunas giggle. He reflected that while it may not be seemly for a flag officer to giggle at an new first contact, a part-time fashion designer may. "You are amused by the gentleman's size, Admiral?"  
"He must be 2.5 metres and he has to bend over. I love the red armour and the cream shoulders, they go well together."  
The giant stepped out of the airlock once it declared it was safe to do so, alongside his attendant who was obscured by his bulk. The large man looked like a standard pink-skin, but he was balding and had several metal circles embedded in his forehead. He blinked as normal, but some of the blinks made a click sound, like an old-fashioned camera. His colleague was smaller. She had flowing black hair and green skin, and wore a large, enveloping red robe.  
"In the name of the Emperor, I offer you greetings," said the giant. Crossing his hands so they made the same bird shape as emblazoned on his breastplate, he said, "I am Brother-Captain Gabriel Angelos of the Blood Ravens 3rd Company."  
Deciding to return the gesture, Spock raised his left arm, split his fingers into two groups, and gave the Vulcan salute. "Peace and long life. I am Commander Spock, first officer of the United Star Ship _Enterprise_ representing the United Federation of Planets."  
The admiral added, "Good morning. Admiral Talunas, former captain of the USS _Exeter_ and the designer of the former and current Starfleet uniforms."  
Spock raised an eyebrow. Now he had even more questions. "And you, madam?" he asked the Orion-like woman.  
"Artificer Gana," she said quietly. "I help the gods of war put on their holy armour."  
"You help him dress?" Talunas said with a somewhat high voice. "What's he like underneath? Do you like it?"  
"My physical appearance without covering is a matter of public record," Angelos said. "The Chapter Serfs do not talk much when we are around. Do you have someone assigned to guide us around?"  
"We have," said Spock. "Ensign Pavel Chekov."  
"A Vostroyan, probably. Very well, Commander."

On the other side, Chapter Serf Optio Suma had heard everything. Having heard his captain call someone who looked like him an Abhuman, he remembered how some jumpy fanatics reacted to him on planets just attacked by the Eldar. Many of them had never seen the Eldar themselves, just their armour, but they heard Eldar has pointy ears and that made them think he was an Eldar. Suma wasn't, he was just a Human with green-blood and unusual hearing organs. Now, two pointy-ears were coming, and one of them looked like an insect as well as a Human. "Live long and prosper," said the male drily. "I am Commander Spock."  
"Admiral Talunas," said the female, who seemed to be able to smile.  
"Optio Suma,"said the serf with a perfect Vulcan salute. "Peace and long life, Commander."  
"Where shall we go first, Optio. Any ideas, Spock?"  
"I would like to see your medical facility. Who is your doctor?"  
"We have two chief medics. The first is Serf Centurion Ro Edon, who has a wrinkly nose. The second is the Space Marine Master Apothecary, Steve."  
"Your Space Marines are certainly quite handsome," said the admiral. "How many are there, Optio?"  
"Around 90, Admiral. Most of them will be in the apothecarium anyway, so follow me."  
As the Starfleet officers travelled further through the massive hallways that were both brightly lit and full of shadows, Talunas asked, "Mr Spock, do you think the Vulcan and the Orion really think they are Human?"  
"Perhaps Human has become a broader term, Admiral. Maybe in their language, which of course they are speaking right now, 'humanoid' has corrupted to'human', though I am still puzzled by 'Abhuman'."  
"The uniform?" Talunas asked Spock as they waited for the Master Apothecary to get a healthy Space Marine to meet them. "What about it?"  
"Some of the crew repeatedly ask why women must wear miniskirts, Admiral."  
"They don't have to, no one does. It's an option open to all, you can wear one if you want."  
"I see."  
"Commander, I designed the miniskirt to fit beings with wider appendages, such as tentacles. I then found that some cultures refuse to wear trousers unless they have to, such as the Ashurites. I sized the skirt down to fit humanoids and added tights with the same protective properties as the trousers. Finally, I decided I liked the skirt myself and started wearing it as part of my uniform. I started a trend, that's all."  
"Then, Admiral, why do some women believe it is compulsory?"  
"I expect that with all 13 Constitution class ships commanded by men, some standing orders may not have reached the crew in the same way they were sent out."  
"Hello," said a giant dressed only in red underpants. "Brother-Sergeant Tulka, ready to impart wisdom."  
"Hello, handsome," Talunas said. "I mean, hello, Sergeant. I take it your apo...apoth... doctor has already given our names."  
"He has, Admiral, Commander," said the blue-skinned Blood Raven. When he spoke, a blue tongue flicked out of his mouth. "What is it you wish to know."  
"One moment, sir," Spock said. He grabbed Talunas and dragged her to an alcove. "Admiral," he whispered, "I should warn you that what you are doing could be regarded as sexual harassment."  
"Don't be... Good point, Mr Spock."  
"Thank you. Brother-Sergeant, we are hoping to know more about what has happened in the last 30000 years and how you Space Marines contribute to this."  
"Kill the mutant, purge the heretic, purge the unclean!" roared the Bolian. "We prefer to study and understand those who want to kill us, avoid making new enemies, and protect rather than destroy those we should protect. Our presence remakes the past."  
"Intriguing," Spock said. "Very... interesting."

"This is our third recreation room," Chekov told the guests as they looked at each other on reaching yet another identical chamber.  
"This is as good a place as any," said the Space Marine. "I've received word and I would like to tell your crew."  
"Here?" asked the Orion serf.  
"Here."  
"Crew of the USS _Enterprise_ , this is Captain Gabriel Angelos. Listen to me. As you know, we are holding your ship in my ship. My ship captain plans to hold our original course as there are facilities in the system that will serve all of you. We have a Forge World to look over your ship and a Garden World to give you peace of mind. We are in fact setting off now. If anyone wants to look out of a window and see our warp drive in action, you may not. I anticipate such a question always. We estimate that we will reach our destination in 2 days. Thank you."  
"A Forge World?" Chekov asked. "Is that a factory?"  
"A whole planet of factories. Do not go down there."  
Chekov shrugged and suggested that the Angelos and Gana move on to the arboretum.  
"Not yet, Ensign. There are men & women who serve on this ship who deserve the knowledge. Knowledge is power, and for once I grant you some power. Are there any questions?"  
"Do you always wear armour?" asked one of the security officers, a large, black haired Human named Roger Lemli.  
"No, though considering this ship is falling apart, I find it prudent to wear a spacesuit."  
A bald woman with blue skin stood up, straightened her uniform, and looked closely at the Space Marine's armour. "I can smell something. Is this powered?"  
"Yes, well done."  
"I'd like to introduce Ensign Yoqra, the first Bolian in Starfleet," Chekov said quickly.  
"Bolarus joined the day I was born. My mother and co-dads were determined to get me into Starfleet."  
"And now you are here. Congratulations, lieutenant. Are all Humans on your world blue?"  
Not just Yoqra, but all present in the recreation room blinked in surprise. "I'm not human. I'm humanoid yes, and we have blue blood, blue tongues, and blue skin."  
"Ah yes, I remember you now. We have 7 Battle-Brothers similar to you. They're proud to call themselves Human."  
"Can I meet them, Captain?"  
"You may, if they agree. Walk softly and carry a big gun, that's what I say."  
As more questions poured in, Chekov sighed, "This is going to be a long two days."

* * *

The humongous plains of Reolaz had the occasional lump of rockcrete interrupting it, but for the most part the planet was one large woodland park. That was the nature of Garden Worlds, places of relaxation and rest from the continuous grim darkness of eternal warfare.  
The auburn hair of one of the garden shop adepts blew in the wind as he gave another officer of the Cadian 87th advice on how to arrange St Macharius' Tulips to give out the best scent. "Yes, Major, a pentagram will work wonders."  
"Thank you," growled the scarred, muscular veteran. There were rumours he was half-Ogryn.  
"Any time, sir!"  
Uljuy stepped back from the veteran and saw another Cadian Major asking him to help. "I see you have decent anti-plant grenades," she said, "but I hear you also have plant-growth acceleration weapons. Is that correct?"  
"I am not aware of such a product, Major."  
"I didn't think so, it was just gossip I got from the Commissar. Thank you anyway."

It was probably a better life than most people got. There was none of the sweatshops Uljuy read so much about on the holo-link, nor gangers or mutants. In fact, he could wander freely through the forest. It was just outside the primary garden, and always filled with tweeting & barking. Sometimes, Uljuy actually saw the birds & dogs making the noises.  
"AAAAHHHHHHH!"  
Uljay was about to speak when he saw exactly who was making the noise. A plain white cone burned behind a slim man (he looked male) who was struggling out of the pod. The man looked like he didn't have any bones considering how flexibly he moved, and his skin had a strange, almost crystalline glow. He looked up at the adept. "Mon'keigh?"  
"Welcome to Reolaz," said the adept. "Shall I call for help?"  
The stranger writhed and was free. When he stood up straight, his skin lost the glow and was the same shade of cream as Uljay's. "No, not yet. I can't. I need to hide from the Harlequins. I borrowed a book from the Black Library and I... I wasn't meant to."  
"Um, OK. Come with me. My hab-block isn't far from here."

"I've seen weirder," said Uljay's roomate once he and the stranger stepped through the portal. "Look at me."  
Uljay's roomate, Jedra, had ridges along her cheeks and forehead. Both were adepts in the primary garden, though Jedra served in Reolaz Palace, the seat of the governor. The retail adept nodded and replied, "He says xenos are trying to kill him and he only just escaped. A xenos race called the Eldar."  
"Not heard of them, sorry."  
"He asks we shelter him until he can be sure they haven't tracked him here. He says he can make it worth our while."

* * *

"Hangar bay doors opening," said Sulu as the Blood Raven ship prepared to let the _Enterprise_ loose. "I've set a course for the drydock."  
Reolaz IV Orbital Forge waited, it's crab-like claws ready to hold the _Enterprise_ in place. It wouldn't take long to...  
"Sir," Lieutenant Moreau said as she leaned over the science scope, "I scanned Reolaz III and I detected a Vulcan lifesign."  
"I'm not surprised, lass," Scotty said.  
"Then I checked again. It was Romulan and kind of crystalline."  
Scotty leapt off the command chair and dashed to the science station. "Let me see. Ah. Now that's a point of interest. Uhura, our hosts."  
"Hailing frequencies open."  
"Captain Ufrat, we have detected a lifesign of the surface that we're not sure should be there."  
"Is it crystalline?"  
"Aye."  
"We saw it. We're dealing with it."

* * *

Another spiky behemoth appeared on the screen, it's prow pointing straight at the _Enterprise_ ' deflector. "Captain," said Sulu to a now recovered Kirk. "I don't like this."  
"Uhura?"  
"They're not responding."  
"Then we may have a problem. Get me Mr Spock."

Flicking his communicator open, Spock asked, "Spock here, Captain."  
"Spock, there's another ship heading for us. We're reading energy spikes!"  
Talunas heard this and left the Space Marine alone to join Spock. Pressing the ship's intercom, she asked, "Bridge, what is that ship approaching ours doing?"  
"We're not sure," said Ufrat. "Correction, it's arming weapons! We'll try to find out what's happening. Bridge out."  
"Stay here," boomed the Master Apothecary. "It is an Adeptus Mechanicus warship!"

"What are you doing?" Ufrat shouted at her holo-link. "Back off."  
"Affront to Omnissiah," whispered the metallic head. "Do not interfere."  
"I will interfere. Back off or I will kill you."  
"Goodbye."  
"They're still moving," said the tactical Serf.  
Ufrat took a walk around the bridge, admiring the polish on the wooden rail, and then turned around. "Kill them."

"A second Mechanicus ship," said Sulu. A quick glance into the tactical scope made him smile. "They're targeting the attacking ship."  
"Good, good," Kirk said. His hands gripped the command chair so hard the sweat was adhesive.  
Yet another warship burst in, this time from a purple vortex. White & grey, it was identical to the Blood Raven vessel. Without slowing down, it swerved right between the hostile Mechanicus vessel and the _Enterprise_.

"The Space Wolves are here," said the Master Apothecary. He and the other Battle-Brothers had joined the Starfleet officers when they returned to the apothecarium as the _Enterprise_ arrived at Reolaz and all of them were shouting support to their transhuman comrades. A dozen big, muscular brutes were punching the air.  
"I fear this will all be for nothing," said Spock. "I believe this will be vicious."  
"Hold my hand, Commander," the Admiral whispered. "Please."

Beams and torpedoes aimed for the _Enterprise_ slammed into the Space Wolf strike cruiser's void shields, causing them to vanish into the blackness of space. The friendly Mechanicus vessel gave the hostile ship a good thrashing as it passed overhead, in a battle so close that the ships could read the writing on each other's hulls. Normally, ships would never even see each other. The _Enterprise_ continued limping to the drydock, when a green bolt burst onto the ship's secondary hull. Sparks flew across the bridge, and the deck plating behaved like there was a small earthquake- which there was.  
"Warp core hit!" Lieutenant Moreau screamed. "James!"  
"How long?" Kirk sighed. His head fell into his hands. "How long until my..."  
"2 minutes."  
It was the one thing Kirk never wanted to do. He hit the intercom so hard it nearly broke. "This is Captain Kirk. All hands to escape pods. Abandon ship."  
Without hesitation, the bridge crew either entered the single pod attached to the bridge or left in the turbolift. "James," Moreau asked when she saw Kirk sit down at the helm. He was clearly staying there.  
"I'm buying you time," he said. "Go!"

On a screen in the apothecarium, Spock watched as the crumbling _Enterprise_ shed its hull to reveal dozens of small boxes zooming away. "It cannot be! Jim!"  
"Yet it is," Talunas said. "I'm sorry."  
In the depths of space, the USS _Enterprise_ NCC-1701 ripped apart in an explosion the size of a small island chain.


	3. A Pleasant Trip

Every weapon on board the Space Marine ships and the allied Mechanicus vessel slammed into the hostile cruiser's prow. Lances, lasers, vortex bombs, and plasma blasts sent the enemy ship into the dust of the void. "Target destroyed," said Ufrat. "Finally."  
" _Firemane's Fang_ is signalling," said one of the servitors. "They're picking up the saviour pods of the _Enterprise_."  
"How many?" No one answered the captain. "How many?"  
"Of 434 aboard... 47 left and that includes Gana and Gabriel Angelos."  
"Send our thanks to the Fortran Bodmas," Ufrat said as her fingers touched and bent. "On the up side, there's so little of them they won't overcrowd the Garden World."

"Hello, Captain Angelos," snarled a hairy, even more gigantic Space Marine as the Blood Raven stepped out of the tiny escape pod with Serf Optio Gana. "A stroke of ill fortune?"  
"A stroke of internecine idiocy," said Angelos. "Who attacked us?"  
"Yar Daystrom, a Mechanicus Magos who thought your catch was an affront to her version of the Omnissiah."  
"And the other?"  
"Another Magos, and she thinks the opposite. We didn't get her name."  
Limping towards the Space Marines, a furious Dr McCoy said, "Dammit, guys, what are we going to do now? What?"  
"You're welcome," said the Space Wolf. "Puny mortal, I am Wolf Lord Kiod, and you can stop waving that beepy box at me."  
"You're Human," McCoy muttered obliviously. "But I'm reading the same as I got from Gabriel. Klingon DNA, Augment DNA..."  
Kiod has McCoy suspended over his head in less than half a second. "Stop babbling fool. I just saved your life."  
"Yes, well done, thank you. What will you do with us now?"  
"You will go into a hotel on the Garden World below. Do not cause trouble or you will die. If you cause trouble, Leonard, you will die by my claws. Representatives of the big delusion, the Ecclesiarchy, we see you. May all your crew pass... except you."  
"Thank you for your support," sighed McCoy as he returned to the ground. "If you don't mind, I'd like to check the rest of my crew."  
"Go away then. Away from me."  
"If you don't mind, I'd like to check the rest of my crew."  
"Go away then. Away from me."

"Who is still alive, Doctor?" Spock demanded. He failed to see why the Blood Raven Battle-Brothers had crowded around the holo-link, but they had. In the background were several escape pods and a few shuttlecraft in a huge cavern.  
Behind him, Talunas held a PADD that had a list of names.  
"Spock, Jim's dead. Chekov, Sulu, Scott, Uhura, they're alive."  
"You predicted correctly, Commander," the admiral said.  
"Naturally. Anyone else?"  
The doctor brought a few more familiar faces forward. "Masters, Palmer, Haines, Landon, Arla, 45 in total."  
Spock nodded. He recognised Arla despite them never really meeting. She was one of Masters' friends, but had the dubious distinction of being one of Charlie Evan's victims, specifically the so called 'woman with no face'. The Thasians had undone this, but the nickname had stuck. "It is regrettable, but we have to move on. I assume you plan a memorial service?"  
"We are, somewhere."  
"Doctor, you appear to have trouble breathing. Have you been injured?"  
"No... yes, Spock. I offended this Augment Klingon Human bruiser."  
"As I predicted. I will see you on the planet with the admiral. Spock out."  
"Doctor," called Uhura from the other side of the room, "shall I sing to raise morale?"  
"Am I in command? I am in command. Are the Space Wolves OK with this?"  
"We may join in," said of the darker ones. This one was definitely a Klingon.  
"Proceed, Nyota."

 _It's been a long road,  
_ _Getting from there to here;  
_ _It's been a long time,  
_ _But my time is finally near.  
_ _And I can feel the change in the wind right now,  
_ _Nothings in my way;  
_ _And they're not gonna hold me down no more,  
_ _No there not gonna hold me down._

 _Cause I've got faith of the heart,_  
 _I'm going where my heart will take me;_  
 _I've got faith to believe,_  
 _I can do anything;_  
 _I've got strength of the soul,_  
 _And no one's gonna bend or break me;_  
 _I can reach any star;_  
 _I've got faith,_  
 _Faith of the heart._

There was only some murmuring amongst the crew and some slow clapping, but McCoy could see the smiles.  
"Impressive," said the Klingon Space Marine. "Our Chapter Serfs can sing the Imperial Anthem. You will not hear our march yet."  
A group of rugged females stepped forward, clad all over in fur. "The Imperial Anthem," they said together.

 _I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,  
_ _Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;  
_ _The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,  
_ _That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;  
_ _The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,  
_ _The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice._

 _And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,  
_ _Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;  
_ _We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;  
_ _Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;  
_ _And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,  
_ _And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace._

* * *

Uljuy saw the white, blocky craft land at the spaceport a few miles from the primary garden. He'd seen the explosion as he was about to go to sleep- everyone had. He later heard that a rogue Mechanicus faction had attacked an archeological find, but didn't think much of it. "What do you know," he asked his boss.  
The adept master, a small, hooded creature, hissed back, "They're coming down here. Get ready." A small, cybernetically enhanced hand, gave the retail adept a data slate. "Learn. Get this shop ready."  
Uljuy did just that. Back home, the stranger had been hidden away and Jedra had gone to the palace without a problem, so perhaps his secret was safe. Just as the store opened, a group of women in brightly coloured dresses came in and took a look around. Some of them had gold stripes on their sleeves, one of them had blue skin & antenna. "Welcome," he said, as he said to all customers. "Blessed be the Throne."  
"Er..." The antenna-one bobbed her head up and down for a second. "May He protect you."  
"Are you looking for something in particular?"  
"Not yet, we're new to this time period. Actually, do you have any weapons?"  
Uljay thought for a moment and decided to cooperate. "We have a selection of machetes, anti-plant grenades, las-locks, and other assorted items. Are you planning a campaign against a Jungle World?"  
"No, we're marooned in this millennium and need to be self-sufficient."  
"I see. I will need to see ID for weaponry."  
A blond female dressed in bright red took out a form that read 'Blood Ravens Protectorate, Martha Landon.' It had a photo, a fingerprint, and the seal of the Chapter.  
The adept was glad he didn't need to draw his own weapon. As befitted the militaristic state that was the Imperium, all the Garden World staff were armed at all times with at least a laspistol. "If you need further assistance, please come to us."

"What do you think, Yeoman?" Talunas asked Landon afterwards.  
"Why would a shop like this stock small flamethrowers, Admiral?"  
"Who cares?"  
Landon smiled. The last paradise she'd been on had been a nightmare. She reasoned that hand flamers may give the crew a better chance should the ex- _Enterprise_ crew go to another nightmare world. "Admiral, this shop sells gardening tools. I'd expect trowels and rakes, but weapons?"  
"I've seen worse. From what I hear, this time period is full of hostile worlds, violence, and war."  
"This isn't what I signed up for, Admiral."  
"No, but remember that in this Imperium we're in, desertion is often punishable by death."  
"Admiral!" called the rough figure of Commander Scott from one of the paths. "I've located the Romulan life sign!"  
"Why are you telling me?"  
"I can't find Mr Spock."

"I told you you wouldn't like our teleporter," Brother-Sergeant Tulka said as he and Spock entered the primary garden. They'd appeared just off the main entrance, and the brief journey through the Warp had left the half-Vulcan's head spinning.  
"It was a painful experience," Spock agreed.  
"Hold on," said the giant. A group of natives who, to Spock, looked like they'd come out of Earth's 18th century had just stopped the Space Marine. One of them took out a small device that resembled a PADD or perhaps a 21st century smartphone. "Yes, mortals, I will allow a selfie."  
One of the natives wrapped her arms around the power armour's centre, while her brother leaned onto Tulka. The Blood Raven himself bent down a bit to be visible.  
"Done, mortals. Now leave."  
"Do you get this a lot, Sergeant?" Spock asked.  
"No, thank the Unknown Primarch."  
Spock and Tulka took a stroll through the gates, the Space Marine and guest being allowed through without question. In the distance, Spock heard a siren. As they wandered past the tourist buggy-trains and the rather unremarkable trees, the commander also heard indistinct vox chatter coming from people carrying lasguns and wearing camouflaged flak armour. As he continued, a set of vehicles all marked 'Reolaz Constabularly' rushed past blaring sirens. These wore the same colours. Tulka pushed Spock out of the way when they reached a corner as another set, this time including a car with a turret, rushed past. More constables stood at points near trees, buildings, and crossroads. Around were a few natives but plenty more tourists from all over the Imperium. Spock didn't yet know the planet names in the 41st Millenium, but he recognised Humans, Rhaandarites, Vulcans, Orions, Klingons, Deltans, Andorians, and Bolians. He also saw a group that included people with burnt-out eyes, some shorter Humans with bare, hairy feet, and some regular sized Humans with wrinkly noses.  
The Vulcan and the Space Marine came within sight of a huge, bulbous glasshouse. Tulka walked on until he reaslised Spock had paused. The unemotional Vulcan had a look of horror on him.  
Around the glasshouse, rows of bodies were hanging from gallows and in fact another was being put on. To get closer, Spock had to walk past a constable supervising a machine gun post. An adept pushed a trolley carrying dead bodies away to a 'fertiliser processing' truck. Throughout all of this nightmare, the indistinct vox chatter continued. Spock said nothing- no was bothered.  
"Would you like to go in?" Tulka asked. "I have the guidebook."  
"That would be agreeable," Spock replied. Plants would be a relief, surely?

 _The Death World of Catachan is home to some of the most fascinating plant life in the galaxy. This Spore Tree came to Reolaz in 308.M40 and is one of the few outside Catachan itself. The dangling flowers typically launch spores if they detect movement that often chokes the victim to death but still lets the spores travel. The nutrients of the victim will enrich the soil._

"Fascinating," Spock sighed. What else could he say?

"We have found the Eldar already," said the planetary governor. She wore carapace armour shaped like a ballgown and a wig so huge that she could attach equipment as decoration. Scotty saw guns, ration packs, and a med-kit, and he wouldn't have been surprised if there was more.  
"What did he say, madam?"  
"He's not talking and Eldar are not the easiest to interrogate. We will get answers. Who helped him, for example."  
Behind Scotty, a female adept shifted nervously. Scotty glanced at her and then turned back. "Just as long as the Romulan is contained, I'll be fine. There's plenty of Klingons about though."  
"Everyone here is Human, probably, Commander. Enjoy the rest of our world."  
Scotty wandered out of the palace, still not knowing where Spock was. "I have to admit, the red brick, gothic style is astonishing. Aye."  
"This is quite a sight," said the adept who'd been with Scotty. "I've worked here for a long time. I'm Jedra."  
"Hello, Jedra. What else in this, uh, garden do you recommend?"  
"Treetop Walkway is astonishing and the pagoda is magnificent. However, be careful around Governor Kharlod's Cottage. The security there's higher than it is here."  
"Thank you, lass. Good day."

Scotty only got 100 metres away when he heard the first sirens blare and the first constabulary vans drive up to the palace. He guessed they were after the Romulan/Eldar, but his jaw dropped as the police officers forced one adept to the wall at gunpoint and surrounded Jedra. Another woman in a carapace dress and an equipment-decorated wig stepped out of the van.  
"Lady Elle?" Jedra asked.  
"Jedra Ar, you are charged with apostasy and treason. The Constabulary has investigated and the evidence is overwhelming. You are required to answer all our questions and anything you say will be taken as evidence. If you remain silent we will regard you as guilty."  
If Scotty had anything to say, it faded when he saw the Space Marines joining the police and clearly approving of their actions. The last the engineer saw of Jedra was the adept walking into the van.

"Greetings, Mr Sulu," Spock said as he joined the helmsman at the garden shop. "It is agreeable to see you after what I saw in the Palm House."  
Sulu, who was inspecting a large machete, said, "Hello, Mr Spock. I don't know what you saw but I love this blade. This shop is full on wonders."  
A Constabularly van drove up nearby, alongside a small, green car that had been parked earlier by a tourist. Spock saw one of the retail adepts, who he believed was called Uljay, look up at the van as though a savage sehlat bear was about to ravage him. A nearby constable muttered to his partner how a traitor had been found.  
The science officer ignored this and continued listening to Sulu drone on about the plants, his botany hobby, how that odd lifeform Beauregard in the _Enterprise's_ arboretum would find more of it's species on Reolaz, and how Sulu sometimes wished he could go back to full time science. Being as dignified as ever, Spock patiently listened, or at least appeared to, while secretly scanning the shop.  
"Open the door!" screamed someone.  
Spock and Sulu spun around and saw that Uljay had ran into the green car and started to drive off. The constables were remarkably restrained, choosing to run after and shout at him rather than just shoot him dead.  
"What's happening?" Sulu asked.  
"I believe we've found someone who was helping the Romulan."  
The green car sped on, when a grey, bigger car marked 'Research Vehicle' swerved in and cut Uljay off. Several constables and some of the retail adepts now pointed their laspistols and lasrifles at the green car, while some tourists backed off. Vox chatter filled the air, including some Spock could make out as "1.4 metres, take alive."  
"The adept should give up," Spock said. "I do not believe this will be the case."  
No. Instead, Uljay reversed and almost hit one of the constables, who fortunately had fast reaction skills. Another ran forward, smashed the car window, dragged Uljay out, and threw him into the Constabularly van. The van drove off, buzzing it's siren as it left the bewildered customers and staff to consider what happened.  
"The Romulan has been found and so perhaps his Human helpers," Spock said to Sulu.  
"That's good, sir. Will we be asked to help?"  
"I hope not. I am beginning to believe this time period is not the best place to be."


	4. Space Hulk

"Remind me, Farseer, why did we bring them here?"  
"All shall be revealed, Exarch. Go back to Dire Avenging."

Following the carnage at the garden shop, Governor Kharlod herself came by in her carriage (an old Leman Russ Main Battle Tank). Since it took 5 minutes to get from the palace to the shop, this meant Spock and Sulu were still there by the time she arrived. Normal business had resumed, as though Imperial citizens saw smashed windows, stolen cars, and police chases all the time. The governor, now dispensing with her wig and wearing a helmet like the constables, shoved a few of the retail adepts aside and went straight to the Starfleet officers. "By his beneficence, past-people, I hope your visit was not disrupted too much."  
"Not at all," Sulu said. "Governor, is there a loyalty card or something I can have for this planet?"  
"There's a Friends of Reolaz membership but you won't be having any use for it. The Inquisition is coming to see you, the Eldar, and his collaborators."  
"Do you require us to come with you?" Spock asked.  
"Yes. Meet us by the pagoda in 10 minutes."  
"May we have a lift?"  
"Lift? In the governor's carriage? Who do you think you are? Constables!"  
A pair of heavily armoured soldiers stepped behind Spock & Sulu. The Commander and the Lieutenant felt the muzzles in their backs.  
"Constables, take these two to the pagoda in what you believe to be an appropriate fashion. I recognise that you two are veterans, do your worst."  
Spock was about to speak when one of the heavies grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"Beautiful view," said Lieutenant Masters as she took in the sight of the whole primary garden in the daylight.  
"Yes," Lieutenant JG Arla sighed. The quantum mechanics specialist rubbed her face again. The front of her head had never stopped aching since the Thasian encounter and she'd already given up on painkillers. "How many species have you seen?"  
"12 and they all call themselves human. Why are Romulans separate?"  
"I wouldn't be surprised that they'd go their own way. I'm more surprised the Klingons think themselves human."  
"Hello," said a new, echoing, high voice. "Behind you."  
Before the Starfleet officers was a glowing, thin, tall figure floating in the gap above the stairs. "Greetings, madam," said Masters.  
"I am an Exarch of the Warp Spiders, Craftworld Biel-Tan. You recently met Gabriel Angelos. You are from the past."  
"How do you know?"  
"It is true then. The Exarch has decided she wants... I have decided I want to talk to you in advance. The Governor has an Eldar prisoner. Listen to him."  
"Why should we trust a Romulan?"  
"Who?"  
"Why should we trust you?"  
"Because no matter what I say, everything I say is true. Even your Imperium knows this. They say of us that if you ask us a question, we'll give you three different answers, all of which are true and terrifying to know."  
"We'll keep that in mind," Arla said. "Wait... This was you wasn't it?"  
"No comment. I depart now."

2 weeks warp transit average distance away

In the void, the spiky, vast, rugged leviathan known as Warrant of Trade Starship _Voyager_ stopped before the lumpy blob of metal hanging in the void. "We're here," said the Space Wolf Lord in the small chamber his troops had stayed in. "The Rogue Trader will wait here for us as we explore this Space Hulk. Watch for the Greenskins, the Great Devourer, and the rest. For the Allfather!"  
"For the Allfather!" shouted the hairy giants.

 _2 minutes later_

"Contact!" shouted Blood Claw Faru, a newly ascended Space Marine. "Plague Marines!"  
Indeed, the night-black, decaying tunnels of the Space Hulk contained green, bloated, pus-ridden giants in similarly conditioned armour.  
"Another contact!" said the gruff Rune Priest. "Odd."  
The Space Hulk also had blue, glowing, robotic giants.  
"Rubric Marines?" said the Wolf Lord. "Let them fight it out. Let the traitors give each other the deaths they deserve."  
Yet when the supersoldiers of the rival Chaos Gods met, they did not fight. Instead, they turned to the spot the Space Wolves were watching from.  
"For the Allfather!" yelled the Wolf Lord.  
Bolters raised. Chainswords spun.

 _RAARK-CRUMP-BOOM!_  
 _DAKKA!_  
 _VROOM!_  
 _BONK!_

"What are you doing?" asked the Rune Priest as he came to grips with a snot-covered Traitor Marine.  
"Infect, kill, capture," said the hulk as it shrugged off a sword blow that gouged out his entire stomach. Filthy blood poured out.  
The psyker didn't flinch from his enemies gore and continued thrusting his sword and runic staff. "Would you not fight your rival's minions?"  
"No."  
"Too bad." The Rune Priest breathed in and shouted, "Skíthof Skitnah!"  
Despite there being no air anywhere, a cloud still formed in the void. The Rune Priest blinked and thousands of spikes made of previously non-existent air flew into the Plague Marines. The giants reeled, groaning, sighing, recovering.  
"Didn't work," sneered the Plague Marine. "Wait... STOP!"

 _RAARK-CRUMP-BOOM!_  
 _DAKKA!_

The Rubric Marines had just shot their rivals in the back. They then looked at the Space Wolves.  
The Space Wolves looked back.  
"I don't like this," said Faru.  
"I wasn't expecting you to," the Wolf Lord replied flatly. "As we were..."  
In a purple explosion, the ghosts of the Thousand Sons were gone.  
"Odd. Let's return to _Voyager_ , get a shower, and analyse our findings."

 _Half a day of showering later_

Now cleaned of Nurgle contamination, the Space Wolves could examine the photos and videos they'd taken of the Space Hulk's component ships. Usual garbage: Old Imperial freighters, Ork Roks, wraithbone corpses, etc, but then their eyes fell on two vessels. "The Rogue Trader will like this," said the Rune Priest.  
The first had a circular hull with a rollbar above and nacelles below.  
The other was just a circle with nacelles attached. A dish stood at the front.  
"The cogitator says the Rogue Trader will receive bounty from the Mechanicus and the Inquisition. I'll give him the good news."

Reolaz Pagoda

"The Eldar gave us these," said Kharlod to the assembled Starfleet crew. "Look, I don't like this. We are just a planet-wide park with some veterans and natives serving as police. If this Eldar was captured, he wanted to be captured."  
"Governor," said a high voice. "We're here."  
The first to come in was an Andorian shen (a female gender) who looked remarkably like Talunas except she had the usual white hair and round ears. If she was a descendant, she'd also inherited the Admiral's fashion sense. Talunas would've made been even more daring, but Starfleet Command only approved the slightly wider collar and the miniskirt. It had agreed to a high-heel option, but only for captains and above. This Andorian fitted Talunas' vision completely. "I'm not an Inquisitor, past people, they're coming. I am Cardinal Bellum."  
"Cardinal, sounds religious," Talunas said as she crossed the pagoda floor to her lookalike dressed in gold. "I'd convert to yours any day."  
"You're not so bad yourself. May I present the Inquisitors. Xenos Inquisitor Hamster."  
A short Human with remarkably white teeth entered. "Hi, good morning."  
"Hereticus Inquisitor Jezza."  
In came a taller Human. When he spoke, his voice was the deepest in the room. "Hello, I am an Inquisitor Lord and the best driver... on this world."  
"Malleus Inquisitor C-Slow."  
A cyborg in red robes with bionic arms projecting from his back wandered in. He still had hair, quite a lot of it. "Hello."  
"Their acolytes, their so-called production crew, is downstairs along with their mysterious driver in white armour. This lot will take you away and interview you. They've already given Uljay and Jedra a hard time."  
"I gave them a lecture on using children's building blocks to build houses," said C-Slow. "It concerns assessing..."

Space Wolf Cruiser _Firemane's Fang_

"Inquisitors!" snorted the Klingon Space Marine. "Yes, our brethren have found something interesting. Let's go for it."

 _Bibliothèque_

"We're ready," Gabriel Angelos told the Chapter Serfs on the bridge.  
"Navigator reports course projected," said the conn officer.  
"Engage," said Ufrat.

Down below, the Starfleet crew had their first glimpse of the images captured by the other Space Wolves that very day.  
"Fascinating," said Spock.  
"I was only on the _Miranda_ last month," Talunas said. "To think it became interstellar junk lost for tens of thousands of years."  
Staring at the other ship, Scotty gasped in wonder and had to have a drink. "It's not possible. That's a museum ship. It can't move!"  
"Yet it apparently has," the first officer concluded.  
The label was clear to all. On top was the registry NX-01. Below was the name _ENTERPRISE_.


	5. Boltgun & Phaser Together

**This will be a very long chapter. Be prepared!**

"Mr Scott and Admiral Talunas will board _Enterprise_ ," Spock told the assembled Space Marines of the Blood Ravens and Space Wolves. "Myself and Lieutenant Masters will board the _Miranda_."  
"We are ready to assist your machines," said the superhuman cyborgs, the Techmarines of the Blood Ravens.  
"Same," said the Space Wolf Iron Priests, who wore conventional colours.  
"Thank you," said Talunas. "C-Slow, would you like to join us?"  
"We were going to anyway," said the Mechanicus Inquisitor. "Myself and the Cardinal will join Scotty, while the two pillocks with me will join you."  
"The full might of our Chapters will defend your work," said the Wolf Lord. "It is good you armed yourselves at Reolaz. Space Hulks are vicious."  
"Environmental suits ready," said Masters. "Let's suit up."  
"No, you can't use those," said a familiar voice. Gabriel Angelos had come in with a selection of armour suits, all in Blood Raven or Space Wolf colours. "If you wear your puny artefacts on a Space Hulk you will die, with a probability of 98%. You will wear these power armour suits, normal Human-sized."  
"They're not to be underestimated," said an Ecclesiarchy priest who assisted Cardinal Bellum. "I've worn these several times. They saved my life and are so comfortable."  
Spock noticed the priest's ears and slight green complexion. "What is your name, sir?"  
"My name, Mr Spock?" The priest stared ahead blankly. "My name is Fyodor Karamazov."  
"I see." Fyodor was not a Vulcan name, but then Vulcans are various other races appeared to have merged over time.  
"Do you have all the specifications?" asked Scotty as he tried slipping his arm into one of the suits. "I would not want these rust buckets to blow up in our faces."  
"We have downloaded what we can," said C-Slow. "Perhaps you lot have a way of telling us more?"

"The merging of two minds," said Talunas, who had walked past the row of suits. "Myself and Spock could telepathically give you everything you need."  
"I thought there was something strange about us," said Karamazov. "We're not psykers... Yet we are psychic."  
"Let us begin," said Spock. "Myself and the Admiral can only do this once."  
"Once we have what we need, I can shove it into every other Mechanicus cyborg," said the cybernetic Inquisitor.  
"Then I will meld with you." Spock placed his hands against C-Slow's implants and began whispering. "My mind to your mind. Our minds are merging."  
In unison, C-Slow whispered with Spock, "Our minds our becoming one. I see what you see. I know what you know."  
Spock broke off immediately. "Is that enough, sir?"  
"It is. Bloody Nora!"

"I will now share my knowledge with the Space Wolf Iron Priest," said Talunas. "May I say I love this suit. Can I have it?"  
Angelos stepped around to get a clearer view. Talunas had chosen a tighter power armour suit with large hemispheres on the chest, thigh high boots, and a trailing skirt. "That is a surplus Adepta Sororitas suit."  
"Can I have it?"  
"You may?" said Angelos. "Now do whatever foul thing you are doing."  
Talunas grabbed the still bare sideburns of the hairy giant. "My mind to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts."  
"The mind of a upstanding warrior meets a hedonist," sighed the Space Wolf.  
Talunas broke off. "Do you have what you need?"  
"I do. Don't do that to me again."  
"Compare notes," said C-Slow. "Comparison complete."  
"Information received," said every Techmarine and their adepts.  
"Then let's go and fix those relics up!" said Scotty.

* * *

Almost as soon as the first Starfleet shuttlecraft, _Galileo_ , touched down on the Space Hulk, a red stream of light burst onto the starboard nacelle, Only the glancing angle left the nacelle chipped & scorched rather than obliterated. Blue beams shot out from the shuttlecraft, blowing up the automated lascannon post that someone had set up by the airlock of the USS _Miranda_. A Space Wolf Thunderhawk covered the rest of the approach, blasting away at anything that looked like it could damage the shuttle.

"We're in," said Masters as she guided the shuttle down just a metre from the _Miranda's_ hull. "Arla, Landon, Commander."  
There hadn't been many survivors from the engineering crew. Most had been killed by warp core coolant or the explosions just before the core breach, leaving Scotty and Masters the ranking engineers. She and Spock had to make do with a quantum mechanics specialist and a Yeoman.  
The Thunderhawk then deposited the Blood Ravens Techmarines and their Chapter Serfs. "Get it open. We'll cover you."  
Spock took out a laser cutter and guided a hole in the bulkhead. "We will have to reseal this after we get inside." As he worked, he heard giggling and stomping in the immediate area behind. "Expect a rather juvenile contact," he told the Blood Ravens. "3... 2... 1..."

As the airlock dropped away, the Space Marines poured in bolts, plasma, and melta rays without hesitation. As expected, they hit something. Specifically, they hit green, decaying one-eyed creatures waving swords. By their feet were loads of smaller beings. A faint green puddle contaminated the floor of the ship.  
Landon jumped back as a Plaguebearer swiped at her. She drew her phaser pistol and gave the Nurglings by her feet a warm welcome to M3 humanity.  
"Great Bird, these are revolting," Arla whispered as she ducked and grappled hand-to-hand with a Plaguebearer. "Uh, I'm not supposed to be doing this alone!"  
Spock walked past the fracas and smashed his hand through the Lesser Daemon's eye. "This individual is dead. Move on. Space Marines, myself and Masters are going to the bridge. Arla and Landon will go to engineering. Divide your personnel as you feel best.  
"Done," said a Techmarine. "Go!"

Whilst the engineering teams went to their workplaces, an idiot with a hammer and a twit with a gun wandered through the corridors, on the lookout for the unclean. "Have you seen anything?" asked Hamster.  
"Yes I have," said Jezza. "40 metres, crawling on the roof. Let's smash them up!"  
Giggling, green blobs slithered towards the Inquisitors. Jezza, who could speak Daemonic languages, heard them say, "More friends! Hug them! Squeeze them!"  
"I'll give you a good squeeze, and... a squash!"  
Hamster's psycannon screamed as more blessed-bolts slammed into the overfriendly abominations. He had the gun for two reasons:  
Jezza liked hitting things with hammers, whether a small DIY item or a scaled-down Thunder Hammer.  
Hamster was better with a gun, though anyone was compared to Jezza. When he fired, the safest place to be was in front of the target.

Up top on deck 1, the first officer and the engineer took a walk around the dark, musty remains of the _Miranda's_ bridge. They and their Blood Raven allies had just gone through several Nurgle Daemon mobs just to get to the command centre only to find it was exactly as it would have been. Dust and space rocks coated the consoles, nothing showed the slightest signs of activity, and some of the dust piles looked like the rotted remains of the crew. They certainly had still-intact uniforms around them,  
A Miranda-class starship did not have the same bridge as a Constitution class. Instead of a circle, it was a long, narrowing quadrilateral with all the consoles barring helm & navigation along the walls. The captain sat behind all of these and behind was the Master Systems Display. Of course, this didn't mean much if they didn't work.  
"Spock to Arla, report."  
"We're under siege by more Daemons but our friends are holding them off. We've used their devices to restore power, but it's with Imperial plamsa generators, not our systems."  
"When will you be ready to restore bridge power?"  
"When you are, Commander. Have your Techmarines restored your circuits?"  
"They have. For a derelict, this ship's circuits are surprisingly functional."  
"Ready," said Masters from the engineering console.  
"Spock out. With caution, Lieutenant. If we are not careful, there..."  
"Fething ditherers!" said a Techmarine by Masters. Without listening to Spock or the Lieutenant, he hit the button immediately. "Feel the machine resurrect!"  
Throughout the ship, lights that hadn't worked for millennia came on. On the bridge, the familiar BEE-WEEAH BEE-WEEAH noise began as the consoles lit up and the viewscreen came on. To make sure things were working, Spock went to the helm console and pressed a button often used by Mr Sulu. Sure enough, the tactical scope rose out and deployed. Leaning back, the first officer counted to then and then stared down the scope. He saw readings on the Space Marine vessels and the shuttles.  
"This thing is infested," said a Chapter Serf as she looked down the science scope. "We'll need everyone in here."  
"Everyone is here," said the voice of the Warp Spider Exarch from Biel-Tan. A green & white suit of armour accompanied by similar but drabber warriors had materialised on the bridge. "As we said, we wanted you to do this."  
"You didn't say that," Masters replied.  
"We gave subtext. Listen to us, Marines and Starfleet..."

* * *

Fire breathing, floating, purple fungi were not what Scotty and Talunas were expecting when they opened _Enterprise's_ airlock. Nor were they expecting a screaming, flying beast to swoop at them. However, they were expecting trouble and were expecting the Space Wolves to rush in with chainswords and axes. Behind, the snapping metal arms of C-Slow tore a pink blob with tentacles to bits. However, that blob then turned into two smaller blue blobs. "Don't worry," shouted the Inquisitor. "This lot just need more effort."  
A Space Wolf filled a Blue Horror with bolts, causing it to burst again. Two smaller, orange creatures appeared. When Bellum sliced them apart with her power sword, they finally vanished. Gone. No more.  
The other Space Wolves and Scotty's phaser finished off the other Pink Horror and it's spawn.

Sulu and Uhura ran to engineering, where they saw the large rod that was an NX-class warp core. Silent and still, the Starfleet crew and the Space Wolves wasted no time setting up. "It's like someone preserved these circuits," said Uhura as she poked her gauntlets into the panels.  
"They did," said C-Slow. "The Eldar I expect. Anyway, get this thing connected to the plasma generators. You two Blood Claws, deal with the noise outside."

On the bridge, Scotty took the sneaky chance to sit in the large command chair of _Enterprise_ , facing the dead viewscreen. "Aye, these ancient junk were built to last."  
Unlike the relatively colourful 23rd century bridges, _Enterprise's_ was grey and... grey. The admiral looked around with distaste. "There's a lot of handholds. Where do these corridors go?"  
"I'll check," said a Space Wolf. "There are plenty of buttons and levers here."  
"In the old days, they had that kind," said Scotty. "Now we use Vulcan jewel controls."  
"Engineering reports ready," said Talunas. "Now?"  
"Go for it. Bring this baby online!"  
Again, lights flared into life and monitor screens colourised. Schematics off the ship and status reports buzzed everywhere.  
An Iron Priest bent down to the the science station by the port rear. The scope rose up and the giant gazed into the machine. "Something's coming in!"  
Stumbling around, the green, muscular armoured Eldar calmed down from their teleportation and stared at Talunas. "Striking Scorpions Exarch, Biel-Tan. We will fight below."

* * *

"Chaos warships," Ufrat announced to Angelos. "One fleet is from the Screaming Skulls. The other is Knights of the Silver Tower."  
"Nurgle and Tzeentch!" said the Space Marine Captain. "Doctor McCoy, we will be having a three-way battle here. Us vs both of them, each of them vs the other."  
"How wonderful, Captain," said McCoy.  
"Craftworld Biel-Tan approaching," said a Chapter Serf from the tactical wooden rail.  
"Specifications?" asked Ufrat.  
"It's the Craftworld."  
"What's a Craftworld?" the doctor demanded.  
"Planet-spaceships that carry the Eldar or, as you call them, Romulans."  
"A spaceship the size of a planet has come to help us? Now I've seen everything."

Without a word, the Craftworld opened fire on the Nurgle warships. The pus-ridden behemoths ruptured as the Craftworld's lance batteries tore through their shields, through their Daemonic garbage, and into their reactors.  
The Craftworld zoomed past and then came around again. It whizzed towards the Tzeentch warships and vanished.

"What just happened?" asked McCoy.  
"They want us to do the rest, the dishonourable fiends," said Angelos. "Put me through to everyone."  
"Who is Tzeentch?"  
"An foul monster who changes everything. In its misguided desire for madness, it alters things on whims and changes the pure to impure and the impure to even more impure. It has plans that it does not want to work, and sees everything as a toy."  
"Bloody Trelane."  
"I will assume that is an insult. Excuse me, Leonard. Blood Ravens, Space Wolves, guests, the armies of the Changer of Ways are here."  
"Do we help?"  
"Not yet. When it comes, we shall no know fear. I fear nothing for I am fear incarnate."  
"You haven't been that scary so far."  
The giant looked down at the doctor, glaring. "One spit and you die, mortal."  
"I've heard worse."

* * *

"Initiate attack protocol 23," called the Blood Raven Veteran Sergeant. "Send the Traitors back!"  
These Tzeentch Space Marines were not Rubric Marines. As they were alive, they could talk back. The silvery-blue warriors replied, "Nous allons capturer ce vaisseau!"  
In the corridors of the _Miranda_ , Space Marines crashed out of diagonal Jefferies Tubes that were almost too big for them as they unleashed fire and bolts onto the Chaos soldiers. Giants who had turned heretic only 7 years before crashed through ancient deck plates as they leapt down on the loyalists they so hated because they were once like them. Warp Spiders flashed up on every deck, sending spinning gunk right into the Warp-corrupted fiends. Fists and steel threw up sparks as dozens of giants and aliens knocked each other over and grappled in the corridors.  
A Chaos Space Marine carrying a staff with a large eye burst into engineering. Without stopping, he sent a wave of pink light at Arla.  
The Lieutenant screamed, and the scream became a muffle. She groped around blindly. Her nickname was true once again.  
Landon turned around just as her phaser burnt a hole in another Traitor's breastplate. "Not again," she whispered.  
The Sorcerer turned his attention away from the once again faceless Arla and to the blond Yeoman. He squeezed his hand, and that squeezed her brain...

On the other hand, the Blood Ravens had pushed the Knights of the Silver Tower away from the bridge and auxiliary control. They'd just regained control of the rollbar and were working their way to the impulse engines. "Shaking the ship loose," said Spock as he and Masters sat at the front consoles. "Engage."  
"Course plotted, torpedoes armed," said Masters.  
"Blast us clear."  
Antimatter explosions ripped through the Space Hulk. Ancient wrecks trembled and split as the force sent the _Miranda_ tumbling away.  
"Impulse engines engaged," Spock said. "Spock to Angelos, we are approaching your docking bay."  
"Roger, Commander. Dock and we will purge your ship of the unclean."

* * *

The blast had also forced _Enterprise_ clear. Scotty & Talunas clinged to the bridge handholds as the museum ship rolled through the darkness and into the firefight.  
"Inertial dampeners stable!" Talunas screamed. "Impulse engines clear!"  
"Fire!" Scotty ordered. "Come on, ya big werewolves!"  
On cue, a beam shot out of _Firemane's Fang_ and pulled _Enterprise_ towards it.  
"Hold on, lass. Hold on..."

Realising they were in the grip of the Space Wolves whilst also struggling to hold back the ferocity of the Striking Scorpions and their chainswords & shuriken pistols, the Chaos Space Marines began to retreat off the museum ship. On their way, shells and plasma shot at every power conduit, junction, and monitor they could see. By the time they'd gone, _Enterprise_ was almost non-functional.  
Were they all gone? Sulu and Uhura took a peek outside. By the time the departing Sorcerer was gone, most of their body parts were small, bloody wrecks.  
Power surged as each Traitor weapon hit home. Green fire crackled on the bridge, forcing Talunas to struggle with the engineering station to activate fire suppression. "Initiating... What's that..."  
"Admiral, get back!"  
Emerald lava tore through the deck plates right where Scotty was standing. Ignatus Power Armour could stand up to that, but would it save Scotty?

* * *

By the time the two ships reached the Space Marine vessels, the _Miranda_ was ravaged but functional while _Enterprise_ would need a huge overhaul to even move under its own power. The Eldar were gone and the Romulan planet-ship had left. Starfleet and Imperial personnel evacuated, somewhat less than they started. Of the original 45 survivors of the _Enterprise_ , 3 were dead and 1, Arla, was posing an interesting medical challenge.  
"You'll see these ships again soon," Angelos explained to a shaken Spock and Masters once they reached the _Bibliothèque_. "I would say 200 years."  
"I may still be alive," Spock replied. "What shall we do in the meantime?"  
"Your crew from the past cannot be let loose. I would be pleased to have you join us in the Chapter."  
"I extend the same offer to anyone who wants it," said Jezza.  
"The same," agreed Cardinal Bellum.

* * *

While Talunas joined Bellum's staff and began to talk with the Vulcan known as Karamazov, McCoy, Spock and Masters agreed to join the Inquisition for the 'Triple Gear' unit. Chekov, Haines, Lemli, and Yoqra became the assistants of the superhumans known as the Blood Ravens. Palmer and Marlena joined the Space Wolves' many helpers. The crew split to start their new lives. Some proved to be the Imperium's finest warriors, others succumbed to heresy.

Spock himself had one last meeting with Talunas before departing. The ex-admiral had been going over photographs of various Imperial personnel and noting what species they looked like. "What have you found?" Spock asked.  
"This Space Marine Chapter, the Black Templars, has a Betazoid High Marshal."  
"I have found out that this Imperium exterminated the Cardassians, a people called the Ferengi, and 3 of the Xindi species. We should be on our guard."  
"We live here now, Spock. Their Imperium, their rules. At least our original selves, still back in the 23rd century, are carrying on as always."  
"That is my only consolation. Goodbye, Talunas. Live long and prosper."  
"Peace and long life, Spock."  
The former admiral turned around and carried on her cogitator search. "Goge Vandire, Human. Sebastian Thor, Klingon. Macharius, wrinkly nose people. A few Space Marines, Orion. Many Blood Angels, Vulcan with no emotional control. The Mechanicus senior Magi on Mars, unknown but looks Bynar and everyone I just mentioned. Creed, Trill."  
"And I'm Andorian," said Cardinal Bellum. "There aren't many blue-skins with antenna about any more, sadly. We look too unusual."  
"Too unusual... So what would you like me to do first?"

Watching in the background on Terra was someone who'd lived through it all. He'd had many names and many bodies. Some of the bodies had coexisted and even met each other. Talas, Soval, T'Pau, Azetbur, Picard, Martok, Nechayev... Now they were all one being. The Emperor.


End file.
